Okay, my first question.

Can you just list for me some rituals that baseball players do?

Spinning into their hands and rubbing their hands together, staring into space.

Got him for an enda Rodney shoots the arrow up into the Father's Day sky in Philly.

Lapping their chest, flexes the shoulders, touches the helmet, readjust the glove again,

goes to the nose, velcroing and unvelcroing, they're batting gloves, tipping their hat.

Ozzie Smith ready for the flip and we're ready to start the season, here we go.

Balancing their hat, looking to the right field grandstand, looking to the left field

grandstand, crossing themselves.

They're a unique routine when he steps into the batter's box, tights his glove up, wrist

bands, there's the feet, they'll look to steps.

They invent new ones all the time, it's completely dynamic, a picture might tug at his cap

and wiggle his leg when going into a motion.

Do people like their bats?

Apparently, yes, they'll week does.

Yeah, but no, I think that's a pretty rare thing, it sounds unsanitary too.

And what do these rituals have to do with baseball?

Nothing, except that they have been there forever and players have always had rituals.

This is a big part of the problem in baseball, this is why the people in charge have moved

to make it faster.

That is my friend Mark Liebovich, a staff writer at The Atlantic who gets all the best assignments.

I'm Hannah Rosen and this is Radio Atlantic.

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